Shukra
by Enchantable
Summary: When Mashiro Kuna is transfered from the 2nd to the 9th, she turns the Division on its head, especially for its 3rd Seat. From their time as seated officers to leaders of the Division, Mashiro and Kensei discover they just might be perfect for each other
1. Chapter 1

**Alright so welcome to my Kensei/Mashiro epic. 'Rogue's Gallery' looks likes its gonna be more about the Vizards but I wanted to do a big scale fic with just them. This takes place (obviously) BEFORE Kensei and Mashiro become official leaders of the Division. So they're acting a little differently right now.**

* * *

WIth a mumbled sigh, Mashiro Kuna shifted against the chest currently being used as her pillow and fought off the need to open her eyes for a few heartbeats longer. The sun was so nice and warm against her back...

Mashiro's eyes snapped open. With no thought to modesty she shoved herself up and looked over at the sun, high enough in the sky to tell her she was running horribly late. The brown haired man in the bed just groaned and rolled over as Mashiro jumped to her feet on the bed, using the height to tell her where the first of her cloths were. Locating underwear and her pants, she grabbed them and yanked them on before searching for the top half of her uniform. Finding it in _his_ closet she grabbed it and pulled it on, tying up her pants and racing out, only to run back in and grab her sword, throwing herself back out where she stumbled into her socks and shoes. She found her sunglasses in her sleeve and shoved them onto her head before taking off in a dead run towards the Ninth Division.

"Mashiro!" she heard someone shout.

"I have to go!" she screamed over her shoulder, "I'm late!"

Despite her headache and dry mouth, Mashiro threw herself in _Shunpo_, racing towards the first division. She was so stupid to be drinking the night before, but she had just passed the exams for being a Seated Officer, a little celebration was in order! What happened with that guy from the Eight Division however, that was not necessary. But it happened anyway and Mashiro saw no reason to dwell on it. She had to hurry though, she was horribly late! Skidding to a halt she looked both ways, trying to figure out which was she was supposed to go. She _hated_ this! It wasn't like she asked for the transfer. Captain Yoruichi had her take the exams and when she passed she had her transfered so she could be a Seated Officer. Mashiro had known that certain things about her didn't fit with the Second Division. Bright green hair, her loud mouth--but she had done well, well enough to be turned into a Seated Officer. This was purely a matter of room. There was no room there so she had been moved to a Division with room.

But the _Ninth_? The Ninth was a bunch of destructive, stupid men who got drunk and blew things up. As far as Mashiro knew it had been centuries, at the very least, since they had more than one woman for a Seated Officer. In fact, she doubted there were many women there at all. Only the Lieutenant was one. It was a boys club but apparently they had a vacancy and, with a smile, Yoruichi had signed off on the transfer. Mashiro had grinned and agreed but inside she felt like crying. The only woman there seemed to do nothing but sleep with her Captain who did little in the way of running the Division. It was a well known fact that the Seated Officers didn't really like their Captain and _they_ were the ones who ran the Division. Of all the things she didn't want to do, being forced to be one of a bunch of people running a Division was high on her list.

Well there was nothing to do about it but apply for transfer the moment her foot was across that doorway.

Locating the correct path, Mashiro took off at blazing speed once more. The looming buildings of the Ninth Division finally came into view, the black mark that labeled them the most beautiful thing in Mashiro's eyes. She stopped _Shunpoing_ just outside the gate before stepping forward into the Ninth Division. It wasn't that difficult to find the Captain's office, after all pretty much all the Division were laid out the same. Standing in front of the doors, Mashiro raised her fist and rapped on the door, shifting her weight anxiously. She had to go to the bathroom, her head hurt and she thought she'd probably kill the man who opened the door if it'd get her a glass of water. Biting her lip she looked up and around, wondering if maybe she should knock again when the door was wretched open.

"Yeah?" demanded a gruff voice.

Mashiro looked up into what she was certain were the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. Bright gold, the kind you usually only found in jewelry looked down at her and suddenly she felt as though maybe she had forgotten to get dressed. It was like those eyes could see everything about her. Mashiro gulped and quickly looked somewhere else. Grey hair came dangerously close to falling into those eyes which were somehow made even more haunting by the dark circles under them. He wore the usual uniform but there were no sleeves, revealing the worn black fingerless gloves that covered his forearms and the top was loose enough for her to see the edge of a tattoo on his chest. She realized, belatedly, that she was staring at him and he was getting impatient so she did the only thing she could think of.

"Hi," she grinned, "I'm Mashiro Kuna, the new Seated Officer. Who're you?"

Kensei could only stare at the petite woman in front of him who was a thousand times too peppy for for this early in the morning. She might have been bipolar as well. One second she was staring at him like she was going to be sick and the next she was wearing the biggest grin he'd ever seen. Bright _bright_ green hair made him wonder how the hell she'd survived past her first day at the Second Division while the rest of her made him sure she could hold her own in a fight without much in the way of help, even from her own sword. Her sleeves were overly long and the top of her shirt was loose enough for him to see--

Were those _hickeys_?

Kensei felt heat on the back of his neck as he realized that yes, in fact, the new seated officer was probably late from a romp in the bedroom. Hickeys new enough to be bright red decorated her neck and some of the skin he could see on her chest. Either she didn't know or she didn't care because she continued to smile at him as if it was perfectly normal for someone to arrive for a meeting with the Captain with bright red hickeys decorating them. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with this, especially since he and the other Officers didn't get any sleep last night thanks to the Tenth once _again_ not turning in their reports on time. Not to mention the magazine was behind and it had taken all night to catch it up once more.

"Well?" Mashiro grinned up at him, jarring him out of his thoughts of a bed instead of the day that stretched in front of him, "who're you?"

"Kensei Mugurma," he said finally.

Mashiro forced herself not to look stunned.

_This_ was Kensei Mugurma? But this guy, he looked old and tired and, despite being handsome, not like ass kicking material But that many rumors couldn't be false. Apparently he had single handedly taken out an entire nest of Hollows without so much as a scrap on him. In the process he had _broken_ a cliff clear in half, barely managing to destroy enough of the debris so the only thing that happened to the people below him was they got a showering of dirt. Despite mostly keeping to themselves, rumors of him had reached even her in the Second Division. But standing in front of him, Mashiro couldn't help but be a bit confused. Still he had no reason to lie to her so she shrugged and smiled.

"Kay, well, I'm supposed to meet with Captain Midorikawa--" she began.

"You're late," he said opening the door wider for her to get through.

"Not true," she said, "I was on time--" she began knowing that it wasn't exactly true, "you made me late!" she finished triumphantly.

"I _what_?!" he demanded turning to her.

"Uh huh," Mashiro said nodding, "you made me late."

Kensei glared as she grinned back at him before storming down the hallway. Mashiro followed him, finding endless amusement in the dark red that stained the back of his neck. They got to what she assumed to be the Captain's office and Kensei knocked on the door loudly a few times before walking over to the bench pressed against the wall and sitting down. Mashiro looked at the door and then at him. He had his head back against the wall and his eyes were closed. The door remained closed but she still stood there, looking at the wood. In the Second, most of the time Yoruichi was there before you even knocked. Kensei had banged hard enough that either the Captain was deaf or he wasn't there.

"Take a seat," Kensei said, his voice gruff but not unkind, "it'll take him a minute to get dressed.

"Huh?" she turned and looked at him. Kensei opened one of his eyes and shrugged, as if it was a common thing for his Captain to be in there naked, "is he there alone?" she asked.

"Nah," he said, "the Lieutenant's in there with him."

Mashiro looked at the door before shrugging and going over to the bench, sitting down next to Kensei. Idly she kicked her legs, waiting for the door to open. She could hear the irregularity in Kensei's breathing and knew he wasn't asleep, not yet anyway. But he probably would be very soon. Shrugging she stared at the door, willing the Captain to hurry up. She didn't want to drag this out, she wanted to meet, smile and be sent off to her new quarters where she could get a drink and maybe a nap. Unfortunately all that had to wait until after he came out. Biting her lip she shifted slightly on the bench.

"Stop movin," Kensei mumbled.

Mashiro stuck her tongue out at him, feeling a bit of satisfaction though she knew he couldn't see the gesture. All too soon she heard the even rhythm in Kensei's breathing as he dozed off.

Finally the door began to open and Mashiro jumped to her feet. Her eyes widened as she realized Kensei was still there. In a split second decision she swung her foot back and smacked his shin with her toes. His eyes flew open as he jumped to his feet. She faced the door and instantly he did the same as it swung open to reveal Yamashita Midorikawa, the Captain of the Ninth Division.

He certainly didn't seem like the type to be naked with his Lieutenant. For one he was dressed in the normal uniform, sleeves ripped off which Mashiro was beginning to think was the unofficial style for the Division. His blond hair was unruly and his one storm blue eye was kind. He was missing his other, an eyepatch over what she presumed was the empty socket. He smiled at her and pushed the door open fully, stepping out into the hall. She caught a glimpse of a bare female back before the door swung shut. He looked at her.

"You must be Mashiro Kuna, our new Fourth Seat," he said.

"Yep," she said with a grin.

"Good, you've met Third Seat Muguruma," he said, "you two will be working directly with each other."

Mashiro nodded before realizing how bad an idea that was as her head protested the movement. Captain Midorikawa looked between the two of them.

"Muguruma, why don't you show Kuna to her room?"

Kensei gave a nod.

"Come on," he said.

"Kay. Bye Captain Midorikawa!" she said before trotting after Kensei. She heard the door close behind her, "that was the shortest meeting with a Captain I've ever had," she said.

"Yeah, well, get used to it," he said, "your other one's aren't gonna be much longer."

"But what about orders and debriefings and everything?!" she cried looking at him. Barely a day went by in the Second when she didn't see Yoruichi. for _something_ and certainly for longer than that. "do I come to you?" she asked.

"Why'd you think that?" he demanded.

"Cause you're the Third Seat," she said with a smile.

Kensei narrowed his eyes at the unusual perception. Usually it took people repeatedly being told to come to him for debriefings-not to mention briefings and everything else. Captain Midorikawa was a good Captain but not when it came to the day to day stuff--stuff that _someone _had to do. Kensei was, unfortunately, responsible, competent and a good fighter. He had learned to be a good organizer as well. He had a suspicion that the reason they had a Fourth Seat now was so someone could take on more of the load. But they had all been expecting someone--well someone else. Not someone like her.

"Come on," Kensei said, opting instead not to answer her question right away, "lets get you to your room, you look hungover enough to drop."

"I--shut up you--you meanie!" she hollered at him, hating that he had seen though her so easily.

Kensei shook his head as he led her to her new rooms. They had been expecting someone else but he had a feeling that if nothing else she'd at least make things interesting.

* * *

**So just to review the Division ranking at the moment:**

**Captain Yamashita Midorikawa**

**As yet unnamed Lieutenant**

**3rd Seat Kensei Muguruma**

**4th Seat Mashiro Kuna (just transfered from the 2nd Division)**

**Other seated officers.**

**I made Mashiro start out in the 2nd Division because she's such an excellent hand to hand combatant I thought she fitted well there. But she's obviously got some drawbacks so she's now in the 9th Division. Also I'm aware they're a bit OOC but they've just met and aren't quite comfortable with each other. **

**Please R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

With a yawn at the pre-dawn sky, Mashiro got up out of bed and tugged on her uniform. That was definitely the nicest thing about being in the Ninth Division: she got to wear normal clothing like everyone else. She didn't mind how high the 2nd Division uniforms had been in the back but she'd always felt like they were too tight on her chest. Now that wasn't a problem at all. Scratching the back of her neck, Mashiro walked out of her yet-to-be-unpacked room and down to the main training ground of the 9th Division. Kensei had asked her to be there at this time and so she was.

_He_ however, wasn't.

Pouting, Mashiro looked around the field but only found herself alone. Stretching her arms up she yawned again before bending forward, easily placing her hands on the ground in front of her. Walking her hands back until she was able to grab her ankles, Mashiro pressed her forehead to her knees, feeling the backs of her legs stretch. Straitening up, Mashiro bent slowly backwards until her hands touched the ground, her body arching. She kicked off the ground, using her muscles to hold her legs up in the air. Dropping her legs down the other side she held her legs off the ground for a moment before sitting down, legs stretched in front of her as she bent clear in half, laying her hands past her toes as she looked through her parted feet.

_Still_ no Kensei.

Sighing she sat up strait and spread her legs, bending forward placing her toso onto the ground. She was almost all stretched out and he was nowhere to be found. When she felt ready she pressed her hands to the ground and pushed herself upwards, jumping to her feet. Placing her hands on her hips she looked around the training area one more time, turning in a slow circle. When she came back to her starting point she was still alone in the middle of the training field. Pouting she looked at the ground.

"There you are. Lets get started."

Mashiro spun around to see Kensei striding toward her. She swallowed. His steps were wide and powerful. If she was supposed to keep up with him he'd either have to slow down or she'd have to run pretty fast. He walked towards her, his gold eyes much clearer than they had been when she first saw him. He must have gotten some sleep finally. He didn't carry himself like a Third Seat, he carried himself like a man who was used to being obeyed by way more people than a Third Seat was in charge of. Well he had told her, in far fewer words, that he was the one to come to. So maybe he was running the Division, it certainly seemed that way to her. And now she was the Fourth Seat so did that mean she was like his Lieutenant. Looking at him, Mashiro decided that there were probably way worse things to be--even if she wasn't sure she really liked the Ninth Division all that much.

"Good morning!" she said happily before looking over, "well I guess its not morning quite yet. But the sun'll be out soon!"

Kensei stared at her for a moment before deciding that she had to take a lot of caffeine or be on some other kind of drug to be that energetic this early in the morning. Well at the very least training with her wouldn't be like it was training with the rest of the rest of the Division, none of whom were morning people. At least not until he came into their rooms with a bucket of cold water to throw on them. Mashiro stood there, her arms behind her back as she smiled up at him. Kensei looked down at her for a moment.

"Where's your Zanpakuto?"

"Oh I don't like to fight with my Zanpakuto," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You--" he stopped, "wait, you don't fight with your Zanpakuto? But you're a seated officer--"

"I _can_ fight with a Zanpakuto. I just don't like too," she said.

"Why?"

Mashiro hesitated for a moment, her eyes clouding. Immediately--and irrationally--Kensei felt bad. Whatever the reason, she clearly didn't want to talk about it and for some weird reason he felt guilty for bringing that look into her eyes. He felt his fist clench. He knew the girl for barely a day and she'd been asleep for most of that time and he felt bad about making her upset. Pulling Tachikaze out of his belt he put the sword down on the ground and looked at her. Her eyes went to the sword and then to him, her eyes confused but not as sad as they had been a moment ago. At the look in them, for an equally unexplainable but surely irrational reason, Kensei felt satisfied that she didn't look upset anymore. Turning he walked into the middle of the training ground so they'd have room and she skipped after him, stopping right across from him.

"Whenever you're ready," he said.

"Mmm kay," she said with a smile.

He had no intention of hitting her, no more than he would actually fight her with his sword. He simply wanted to see what she was capable of. He wasn't going to hurt her, not by a long shot but if he was going to command her he had to know how she fought. She stood there completely relaxed, as if they were doing nothing but standing around. He stood there waiting for her to move. she made no attempt to do so. It was like a stand off, though it was certainly the most relaxed one in the world. Mashiro continued to grin, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be standing there instead of moving forward, obviously waiting for him to make the first move. So he did, moving forward quickly. She reacted with speed and grace that was almost instinctive. His arm moved slightly forward and he felt her hands grab him in a hard grab. There was a quick strike to his shin and suddenly he found himself coming close to being face down in the dirt.

Impressed he still managed to move with the throw, turing around and locking her narrow frame under his grip, using his size to what he thought was his advantage, something she quickly disproved by dropping lower in his grip, her leg snapping around and up and back into his knees. Kensei felt his knees buckle before an elbow was slammed into his stomach and his arms were empty. Jumping backwards, Mashiro landed on her feet, her grin not slipping as she looked at him, her head cocked to the side almost like a bird. Kensei straitened up, his stomach aching from her elbow.

"Not bad," he said.

"Uh huh, its a good thing we're not really trying," she said bobbing her head, "I don't wanna really hurt you."

Kensei gaped at her. The way she said it, it was so innocent. She stated it so easily without event he barest mocking edge to her tone as if she was simply telling him about the weather.

"You wanna keep goin?" she asked.

"Sure," Kensei said heasitating only a moment before swinging his arm out.

Mashiro caught it and when he pulled her flush against his chest, she threw her leg clear over her head, the ball of her foot tapping his nose instead of breaking it before she swung her leg down and slammed her heel into his stomach to once again knock the air from his lungs. This time Kensei wasn't having any of it and instead when he doubled over it was to snap his own leg out, knocking her feet out from under her. His hand streaked out and caught her before she could collide with the dirt and he pulled her back to her feet. Mashiro flashed him a bright smile before her arms streaked out. He blocked them a moment before she was suddenly air born, her feet pressing into his chest before she vaulted backwards, her first foot brushing his chin, her second whacking it enough to send aches through his jaw. She landed on her feet a good distance from him, smile not slipping a fraction.

"You're not so bad fro someone from the Ninth Division," she said.

"Yeah, well," he reached up and rubbed his jaw, disliking the throbbing there, "your hand to hand combat ain't bad," he said, "but we're a combat Division. You're gonna need to use your Zanpakuto."

Mashiro's eyes widened, her lips parting as she looked at him, protests clearly on her lips before her smile once again reappeared and she shook her head as if he had said something amusing. She made absolutely no move to get her blade. Walking back over to his sword he picked Tachikaze up and slid him back into the belt of his hamaka. Mashiro continued to stand there, watching him for a moment before he turned around.

"Get cleaned up. I'll see you in the Office in an hour."

"Kay!" she said Shunpoing past him towards the Division, "see you then Kensei!"

It was only after she was in the safety of her room she let her smile slip off her cheeks.

**

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**

An hour later she skipped into the Ninth Division, only to find it in a much more crazed state than she thought it would be for so early in the morning. People were hurrying in and out of the Captain's office, papers clutched tightly in their hands. Frowning Mashiro followed two of them towards the Captain's office. As she ddi another came running out, moving much more quickly than the ones going to the Captain's office. Making a split second decision she turned on her heel and ran off with them towards where the others were. She jogged with them, falling into line as they hurried towards another room. They pushed open the door and she moved with them into the room.

The room they raced into was unique to the Ninth Division. On the walls were shelves, shelves that held rolls of paper--of maps of all the known areas of Soul Society. In the center of the room there was a massive circular table and in the center of that was a three dimensional map of Soul Society. Raised land masses, the Divisions, even the walls surrounding the Court of Pure Souls was all laid out in perfect miniature. Standing at the head of the table, his palms pressed to the narrow rim of the table was Kensei. The two men came running up, one thrusting the papers in his hands at the Third Seat.

"The latest reports detail three Hollows in the area with more possibly still in the woods."

Kensei gave a curt nod of confirmation, his eyes staying on the map. The people laid the pages down as if this happened every day. Clearly the procedure had become routine. The two hurried out, leaving her and Kensei as the only ones in the room. Mashiro hurried over to where he was standing, looking at the map and then back at Kensei.

"Hollow's have been reported in the area," he said finally looking at the map, "they're Class 2 Hollows but there are enough they're becoming a serious threat. Sixth has been sent to take care of it but the Sixth ain't good at moving their asses, pretty sure their Captain's Scarf slows him down too much."

"Okay," she said.

"They're in this area," he said motioning to the area of the map, "most of the Forrest's been destroyed," he explained moving his hand over the area. In the wake of his hand, the area of the map disintegrated, revealing a barren and destroyed landscape, "heading towards one of the housing developments in Rukongai."

"Kay," Mashiro said peering at the map.

"Muguruma!" Kensei's head flew up as a woman came racing through the door.

Mashiro looked up. No, it wasn't a woman but a man. Except at a quick glance she'd have thought he was a woman. Delicate almost effeminate features were contrasted with dark reddish brown hair that fell down his back almost clear to his waist. Like most of the Division he had no sleeves on his uniform and his arms were obvious with lean muscle. His eyes were wide as he clutched a report in a hand that ended in fingers that were equally delicate. He looked between two of them quickly before his eyes landed on Kensei. Instead of handing him the report he threw it up in the air, his hands landing on the map table.

"Sir there's a Class 4 Hollow," he gasped out, "just reported in."

"Damn it, the Sixth isn't equipped to deal with that!Eishima go tell the Captain we're heading out to act as relief for the Sixth. Take over the reports. Kuna you're with me."

Mashiro bobbed her head as Kensei strode down the hallway. She ran after him, stopping only long enough at the doorway to turn around.

"Nice to meet you!' she called before speeding up to catch up with Kensei.

Kensei was a quick with Shunpo but Mashiro was faster. They bolted through Rukongai. Though he was clearly good at Shunpo, it was equally clear to Mashiro that Kensei didn't exactly like to do it. When she glanced over at him she saw his features were tight and she didn't think he was worried about the fight. Together they raced past the gates and through the maze of the city. Both moved with the same way, with the speed and ease of people who were long accustom to the maze that Rukongai could appear to be.

It was a strange thing about Rukongai. The Court of Pure Souls had experienced very little change from the moment of its creation. No Division was even able to claim it had existed long than any other. But Rukongai, Rukongai was a constantly changing place. Souls came in and out faster than anyone could keep track of, though it wasn't to say people hadn't tried. Areas shifted and changed, new ones came up and fell with equal speed. As long as there were supplies to build they would build. There was no shortage of people who needed places to sleep at night in the endless stretch of the city. Still there were people who knew how to adapt, how to change to work with the landscape and there were people who were unable too. It was predictable that they would be capable of navigating the surrounding area but as they got deeper into the city, Mashiro felt her lead increase, just enough so it was noticeable. Just enough so she knew that wherever Kensei came from it wasn't the deep dark pit of Rukongai.

"This way!" he called to her.

Mashiro nodded and veered to the right with him. They flew through the blur of buildings, buildings that seemed to be in less and less state of construction. Mashiro's eyes widened as she looked at the wooden planks, at the bricks and half filled cans of paint that lay around. Mashiro's eyes widened as she realized they were in the middle of a housing development, a development that was about to become the fall site for a very large Hollow. She swallowed thickly as she looked at the area, her Shunpo slowing only fractionally. Still it was enough to give him a fair lead. Mashiro's eyes widened and she sped up, bolting after him as quickly as she could. Finally the half finished buildings began to ebb away until the area was suddenly barren.

Kensei stopped short, Mashiro's reflexes allowing her to do the same. She could feel the Spiritual Pressure that covered the area, a thrumming, living, _choking_ thing. She shoved the nausea down, focusing her gaze instead on the line of Kensei's vision. Either the Sixth had been untruthful or the big Hollow had attracted many _many_ more. She could see smaller ones and three very large ones, ones that were far too big to be just Class 2 Hollows. Kensei's hand dropped to his Zanpakuto as he looked at them before turning to her.

"Evacuate the area," he ordered.

"But you--"

"Damn it get those people out of here!" he shouted.

Mashiro nodded and turned, racing away. Kensei faced the Hollows before darting forward to where the Sixth Division members were falling like flies. Tearing Tachikaze out of his belt he faced the Hollows, holding the sword tight in his grip as he looked up at the massive creatures.

"Blow it away! Tachikaze!" he ordered.

The Zanpakuto instantly transformed, dust around him kicking up by the force of his Spiritual Power. He swung the sword around, the air blades slicing through the air, their whistling sound making the hollows shriek in agony. Kensei felt his own ear drums protest the feeling but he ignored it, focusing instead on sending the blades lancing through the creatures, trying to slice them small enough so they did not injure people further. With quick motions he threw out blades, fine and lattice like that lay like a net, catching and shredding every piece of the hollow that was not turned to dust quickly enough to not injure people by the first wave of the attack.

A blur out of the corner of his eye signaled the return of Mashiro. She streaked past him, charging for the Hollow like a blast of Kido. He continued to fight as he saw her collide with one of the Hollows. There was a snapping sound as suddenly the Hollow shrieked and began to desintegrate. He caught sight of her backflipping away from the rapidly vanishing form. He sent out a handful of air blades to destroy the remnants of the Hollow as she landed on another and quickly sent a handful of kicks towards it. This time the attack was precise and forceful and the Hollow was quickly turned to ash.

Between the two of them it was only a matter of minutes before most of the Hollows were destroyed. Mashiro flipped backwards and landed on her feet beside him, looking around the area.

"Kensei if there were more of them--" she turned her head from side to side, "do you think we got them all?"

"Hold on," he said hurrying over to one of the men who was sitting on the ground, struggling against pain, "you, where's Captain Kuchiki?"

"C-captain wasn't here," the man choked out, "had to go--" he made a horrible sound, "Just us."

"Just you?" Kensei turned to Mashiro, "send a report into the Fourth. Tell them we need emergency relief, _now_!"

Mashiro ran as fast as she could to the man with the small cage with the Hell Butterfly. Grabbing the cage she fished the butterfly out of the cage and quickly told her message to it, throwing it into the air. It flew away before Mashiro grabbed one of the men's torn shirts, balling up the material and pressing it tightly to the first wound on his chest.

"You know any healing Kido?" Kensei shouted.

"Um--" she looked down at him and then at Kensei, "only for low level stuff, poison things," she looked at the man, "not enough."

"Do everything you can!" he shouted over to her, "we have to keep them alive for the Fourth."

"I--" Mashiro stopped, her eyes wide as she looked down at the blood that seeped over her hands.

It was dark and red and sticky and like everything she couldn't stand to see. Her eyes widened as she looked at the chest and then at the man's face. But it wasn't his face she saw, it was another face, the face of a man who was a very long time dead. Mashiro felt her lip tremble dangerously as her stomach rolled at the slight metallic taste in her mouth.

"Mashiro!" Mashiro gasped at the sharp call of her first name, her eyes snapping over to where Kensei was kneeling with his hands pressed to another man's legs, clearly trying to stop the flow of red, "you can do this. Just focus on healing him!"

Mashiro frantically nodded, quickly summoning Kido to her fingers and beginning to do the rudimentary healing she knew. She couldn't see the change on the surface but she must have been doing something right because the blood that had been spilling from in between her fingertips. As soon as he looked as though he wasn't going to die in front of her, Mashiro jumped up and ran to the next man, quickly beginning to heal him too. She brought each one back as much as she could, fumbling on some but eventually they all were healed enough so that when the Fourth showed up, they were not hopeless.

"Muguruma," a man with shoulder length dark hair walked over to him quickly after giving out orders, "these men owe your Division their lives."

"Lieutenant Yamada," Kensei said, "Where the hell's Kuchiki?"

"Family business," he said, "Shihon and Kasumioji have been called away as well."

Kensei made a sound of disgust. These noble pigs didn't know how to choose anyone but themselves. Them and their damn families. He glanced at the men who were being carried away on stretchers before his eyes found the bright green hair of Mashiro Kuna. Giving Yamada a nod he accepted the relief kit with water and a handful of medical things before walking over to where she was sitting against the tree truck, watching the men being taken away. He sat down next to her, pulling the canteen out of the pack and offering it to her.

"My hands are icky," she said.

"Forget that, you look like you're gonna pass out," he shot at her.

"But--" she looked down to where she had her hands tucked away.

"Here!" he grabbed a big piece of bandages out of the kit and wet them, grabbing her narrow wrist and beginning to clean her hand. It took him all of two seconds to get her hand clean before the water was placed in her hand, "now drink!"

Mashiro drank.

"You're bossy," she said finally lowering the canteen and looking at him.

"Yeah well you're being a baby," he told her.

"I don't like blood!" she objected looking at her cleaned hand, "how'd you do that?" she asked, "you even got under my fingernails."

She watched as pink stained his neck.

"I grew up on a farm," he said finally, his voice low as if he was embarrassed by the fact. Before she could question further he barreled on, "come on, we gotta get back," he said getting to his feet and grabbing the pack. Mashiro pushed herself up to her feet, "come on Kuna," he said.

"No," Kensei looked at her, eyes narrowing, "not til you agree to call me Mashiro."

"Huh?" he looked down at her, surprise on his face.

"Yep," she said brightly, "Mashiro," she smiled widely, "now you try. Ma-Sh--"

"I know how to pronounce your name!" she continued to smile, not even perturbed by his anger, "alright fine! Mashiro. Lets get back to the Division."

"Okay Kensei!"

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**Aww its their first mission together!**

**So a few notes. They're still getting used to each other but she's already annoying him and being unaffected by his anger, so they're moving towards their usual relationship.**

**As this is a prequel fic, things are a bit different. Like the Noble Families are in some strange circumstances you'll hear more about in a bit. And I decided to include the Kasumioji family too but we'll find out more about them later on. **

**Also the Yamada mentioned is not Hanataro, its a different character from the Pendulum Arc. The blood incident and why Mashiro doesn't like her Zanpakuto are intertwined and we'll find out more about that later. Also why Kensei's so good at cleaning girl's hands. Maybe he's got some family members he's not talking about yet.**

**Oh and for those curious about the name, Shukra is the Sanskrit name of gods associated with the planet Venus (and the name for Venus itself) which is the planet that coincides with the Coyote Eye which is also called the Buttercup which is the flower of the Ninth Division.**

**Anyway please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Mashiro tapped her foot against the ground as she hummed, her brush moving across the boxes on the white paper as she filled out another one of the forms. Her hand moved across the paper as she quickly scribbled all the general, information that she knew before going back to fill in the more important details that were specific to the mission.

Two months had gone by very quickly.

Fortunately she felt like she was getting the hang of the Division. Loud fights, loud people--it was everything the Ninth Division was not. Mashiro hadn't thought she'd like. But she did like it. Even her handful of interactions with the Captain weren't bad, but she could see why Kensei didn't like him. He wasn't really around all that much. But it was alright for her because she had Kensei. Kensei really did run the Division and the only people who seemed unaware were those outside the Division. But the second you got into the Ninth, everyone told you to go to Kensei. And somehow, perhaps by default, she had become his second in command.

"Hey, Mashiro, you seen Kensei?"

"Uh uh," she said shaking her head and looking up at Eishima.

Shinobu Eishima hadn't passed the exams to be a seated officer, but even after three tries he was still determined. Determined in a horribly bored, melancholy sort of way. She didn't think she had seen him excited about anything in the two months she had been there and they had taken out four full fledged nests of Hollows. He approached everything as if it barely interested him. Mashiro liked him. The rest of them got excited about everything so having someone who didn't was a kind of nice change. At the moment he sighed and looked upwards, as if he was trying to figure out something to say in response to Kensei's absence. Instead he looked at her through his red bangs and picked up the box he had been carrying. Mashiro felt her eyes widened.

"Its Kensei's fan mail," he said, "where do I put it?"

"You should probably burn it," she said. Eishima looked at the box, "Kensei's just gonna order us to do it anyway."

Kensei got a lot of fan mail.

She didn't know if it came internally or from other Divisions or maybe some combination of the two but every week or so, Eishima would carry a box of letters. Colored envelopes, envelopes with calligraphy, envelopes that smelled like flowers or spices--all extremely girly except for some of the other Captain's occasional pranks. Kensei wouldn't let them read it or even react to the box of letters. They just disappeared. Even when it was a creepy situation, Kensei protected everyone's honor. He wouldn't respond to their letters, he wouldn't lead them on but he wouldn't outright embarrass them either. None except for one person.

Being observant, Mashiro had noticed there was one person that Kensei took letters from. Only one. Mashiro didn't know anything except that she had very nice, clear handwriting and the ink she wrote the envelopes in was always blue. The envelopes were always white. They were easy to distinguish in the pile of flouncy, girly cards. She had notice that Kensei took them out, sliding them onto his desk while he did away with the rest of them. She knew the other people who got fanmail read them aloud often, laughing at the sentiments that usually came from strangers. She had even gotten one or two and kept them just for when she needed a laugh.

But not Kensei.

The only thing she knew about Kensei's mysterious pen pal was the fact her name was Lila. Lately Kensei had been disappearing more and more, just as Lila's letters had been coming with more and more frequently. Mashiro definitely saw a connection between the two. Normally she would just have asked him, gone to investigate the situation. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had been in the Second DIvision, gathering intel was almost second nature to her.

But not with him.

For some reason she didn't want to spy on him. She was curious about why he was disappearing with more and more frequency, why Lila was writing to him more and more. She wanted to know but what was worse, she wanted _him_ to tell her and that was the biggest problem of all. Two months and she was already wishing he would tell her secrets. It was kind of silly, she knew it was actually very silly, to think that someone like Kensei would ever share anything really with her.

He was respectful and he had a work ethic that would put anyone's to shame. He was everything that anyone could possibly want in a leader, in a Captain. But he was a very personal guy. It was clear that he was there to get the job done and that was it. She had no doubt he'd take a sword for any of them--her included--but when it came to what he liked, what he didn't like, she realized that she had no idea. They never saw him do anything fun. According to members of the Division, Kensei had rooms there and he used to sleep there as well. But not lately. He left after the work was done and showed up usually early in the morning. For the past month or so, he had been coming in late. Today was the latest and Mashiro's interest was peaked.

"So who do you think Lila is?" she said looking up at him. He looked at her, "she's the only one he takes those letters from," Eishima shrugged and put the box on his desk, "has she been writing for a long time?"

"Yeah," Eishima said, "she was writing to him since, well, for a while."

"And no-one knows who she--"

The door slammed open. Mashiro and Eishima turned as Kensei walked into the Division. Mashiro frowned, he didn't look good. Not at all. It looked like he had been up for the whole night, dark under his eyes highlighting the bright gold color of his irises. His grey hair was even more unruly than usual and she could see stubble on his cheeks. But what really caught her eye was the jacket clutched in his hand. She didn't think she had ever seen Kensei with his arms covered but he hadn't stopped off at his rooms before he came in. All thoughts of Kensei's mysterious pen pal fled from her mind as she looked at him, worry sinking in her stomach. Still she smiled brightly and jumped over her desk.

"Hi Kensei!" she said, "your fan mail's here!"

Kensei looked at her, his features turning from exhausted to the familiar cross between anger and amusement. Mashiro smiled even brighter as she turned back to her desk and picked up the large box of forms she had finished, crossing the space to his desk and putting them on top.

"You gotta sign these too," she said.

He nodded and walked over to the desk, sitting down. Mashiro looked over at Eishima who returned her gaze, his eyes wary as he examined their ranking officer. Kensei pulled the forms towards him and began to fill in the final details and information, all they had to do was be brought to the Captain for the final signature. They should be checked for errors but anyone in the Division knew that they were on their own with the work. Mashiro watched him work over the letters, the jacket cast over the edge of the chair. Her eyes zoomed in on the make of the jacket. It was sturdy and warm and obviously made to last. It also looked really warm--warm and handmade. But who would be making Kensei jackets? She looked over at Eishima who caught her eye.

'Lila' Mashiro mouthed.

'Drop it' Eishima mouthed back.

Mashiro pouted and looked down at the papers still on her desk. Shrugging she walked around and sat back down, getting back to work. The three of them worked for hours in relative silence, the paperwork going far more easily than it would have if there was just one or two of them. But every so often Mashiro would look at the jacket on the back of Kensei's chair and despite Eishima's words, when he went through his fan mail Mashiro was sure she saw him pull four letters from Lila and set them aside.

She did not drop it, she simply didn't mention it to Kensei.

* * *

Another few weeks went by and Mashiro's curiosity finally got the better of her.

When she was young, one of her street friends had told her there was nothing good with waiting for something if you really wanted it, you had to go and get it yourself. Kensei was still not talking to her, not like a friend would and Mashiro was tired of waiting. If her grey haired team mate wasn't going to let her in, then she was going to find a way to let herself in. She wanted to know what was going on, she wanted to know why he was acting the way he was. Especially since she really enjoyed fighting with him and didn't want him to get sloppy and hurt. He had already had two close calls. So Mashiro told herself she was just protecting him, him and the Division and surely Kensei could understand that.

Or so she told herself as she followed him through Rukongai.

He had left after the work for the day was finished, silent as usual. Mashiro had counted to ten and walked out, just in time to see him heading for the gateway of the Division. She had followed him out of the gate, out of the Court of Pure Souls. The Giants nodded to him, a gesture he returned, something that Mashiro took to mean he had been leaving the Court on an almost nightly basis. She had gone after him but it had taken her longer to get past them. Fortunately there wasn't a place in Rukongai Mashiro didn't know and it hadn't been hard to find a grey haired man who walked like someone had immobilized his spine.

Mashiro hid in the shadows, following him. Kensei continued to walk down the streets, clearly knowing where he was going. Mashiro knew too. They were heading past the First District, towards the Second. By the time they got to the Third her interest was peaked. At the Seventh District, Kensei veered off the path he had been on and began to walk west, towards the outlying part of the District. Mashiro's foot hesitated but she forced herself to move forward. She stayed in the more urban parts of Rukongai but Kensei was heading for the outlying ones, the ones that had farms. Mashiro kept walking as the buildings slowly began to become less and less frequent. She knew it was going to happen soon but she wasn't ready for when Kensei turned around and faced her.

"Mashiro," he growled, his face betraying how truly angry he was.

"Hi!" she said, trying to sound happy but failing miserably.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, his voice gruff.

"I'm--ah--" she stopped and looked at him, "well you're being all secretive! I was curious!"

He seemed too mad for words and much to her shame, Mashiro felt guilty. She didn't think he'd be so mad when he found her but he looked like he wanted nothing more than to shove her away. Mashiro didn't look away though and she forced herself not to fidget, keeping her face smooth as she looked up at him. She was already in enough trouble, adding shame onto it wasn't going to do anything to help her situation. Neither of them spoke, Knesei because he was livid and Mashiro because, well, Mashiro wasn't going to talk until he did.

Someone else spoke first.

"Kensei?" Mashiro turned her head to see a woman walking towards them.

She was pretty, dressed in a bright blue dress that was high at the neck and wrists. Even so she looked cold. Her eyes were gold and looking between them with obvious worry but what caught Mashiro's eye was the bright grey hair that brushed her shoulders. There was only one person that the woman could be. When Mashiro realized it her eyes widened as she looked between the woman's doll worthy features and Kensei's sharper ones.

"Lila go inside," Kensei said, but his gruff tone was softer for her.

Mashiro stared. _That_ was Lila? The woman who Kensei took letters from? She was clearly his sister but Kensei hadn't mentioned family. Then Mashiro remembered Kensei hadn't mentioned much of anything about himself. Lila stepped forward, coming level with the two of them. Kensei looked at her and she returned his gaze evenly, her chin raising.

"I'll do nothing of the sort," she said drawing herself up, "what are you doing to this poor girl?"

"This is Mashiro," Kensei said finally, realizing he was unable to get out of the situation.

"Oh _you're_ Mashiro!" she cried with unabashed delight, "its so wonderful to meet you! Kensei's told us so much about you, oh you must stay for dinner," she continued as Kensei stood there and looked as though he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die, "Yuna! Kensei's brought Mashiro for dinner!"

Mashiro looked where Lila had yelled. A fence stretched in front of a small house but the land behind it seemed endless. The door of the house opened and in the doorway another woman appeared. Dressed in pants and a loose shirt, her brown hair was pulled back into a sever tail, more to keep it out of the way than for fashion's sake. The lines on her face made it clear she was older than Kensei and Lila and clearly used to disciplining them. Still there was humor in her gold eyes as she looked at Kensei's embarrassment and Lila's delight. Her eyes settled on Mashiro and her eyebrow rose. Mashiro stared at the two women as Lila continued up the path.

"Are they--"

"My sisters," Kensei said gruffly, "come on," he walked through the gate. Mashiro walked after him.

"You have _sisters_?" she demanded, "how many?"

"Two," he said finally.

"Is Lila your twin?"

"Mashiro I swear to God," he began turning to her.

Mashiro flashed him a bright grin.

In response to a look that had made grown men quake with fear.

Kensei stared at the green haired woman. He knew he was not the best at letting people in, but he liked order to the world. The Ninth Division was where he had dedicated his life, it was the place he would defend until his last breath. But a hundred yards to their right was the only place he had truly ever called home. He didn't tell people at the Division about the farm in the Seventh where his family was. Most of the people in the Division had come from Rukongai, leaving everything they were on the other side of the Gates. But Kensei hadn't been able to do that. He had come to the Gotei 13 to be a Shinigami but he had come back to the farm when he could. Even as a seated officer he came back to the Seventh Division.

No-one had ever dared to follow him.

He had known someone was following him too. He had thought it was some street kid who was probably debating whether or not to try and mug him. But those thieves usually disappeared in one or two Districts. However when he had turned around and seen _her_ there, that had stopped him in his tracks. But there she was, standing right next to him just like she had in every battle they had fought in the past three months, smiling up at him as if she didn't find him frightening and intimidating which, Kensei reasoned, she probably didn't. And now she was walking up the path to have dinner with his sisters.

He probably could have told her to leave but that just seemed--

It seemed rude.

Plus once Lila had seen her, she was as good as there for dinner. And Yuna too. No, Kensei was just going to have to bite the bullet and have dinner with a woman he had known for three months and his sisters. He was pretty sure that they were getting _some_ part of the order wrong. But as Mashiro skipped happily past him and into the house, Kensei realized he didn't precisely mind her being there. He liked her much better than he had any of his other subordinates and a hell of a lot better than his superiors. He might have found her annoying, childish even but in a Division that had one of the highest annual casualty rates in the Gotei 13, a bit of childishness was not the most unwelcome thing.

"Wow!"

Mashiro stared at the sunny house she found herself standing in the front part of. Whoever was cooking had done an incredible job, Mashiro was sure she had never smelled something so good in her entire life. The walls of the house were a bright buttery yellow and even in the fading light, the spotless surfaces seemed to shine. She quickly undid her sandals, placing them by the door with the other shoes she saw there. Walking forward, she moved into what she assumed was the main room of the house. It wasn't like the rooms in the Gotei with their pristine lines and minimalist approach. There was a couch and a pair of chairs and fireplace. Beyond that she could see a pair of doors that opened onto a porch, there was even a wide swing suspended from the roof.

"You grew up here?" Mashiro asked turning and looking at Kensei who nodded, his expression guarded, "wow!" she repeated looking around before her eyes landed on the mantle. Kensei's eyes widened as she bounded over and looked before he could stop her, "no way," she breathed staring at the photos, "Kensei you were so cute!"

Kensei felt the back of his neck burn as she looked at the pictures. It was clear Yuna was the eldest of them, a fact betrayed by the photo of her holding two babies with the same odd grey hair. Mashiro looked as through the pictures she saw Kensei get older, bigger, stronger. He always looked serious though. Even in the youngest of the pictures. But as he got older the look suited him more and more. What caught her eye though was Lila. In each picture she was smiling brightly but she was also bundled in blankets or laying in bed propped up on pillows, or sitting down. Even in the rare pictures when she was standing she was always leaning against something, as if she might fall at any moment. Mashiro felt her smile slip, just a bit at the sight of it as she checked the pictures again. But Lila was never standing and Kensei was never smiling.

"You're always so serious!" she said instead, turning over her shoulder to look at him, amused by the blush she could see spreading across his cheeks.

"He always is! Maybe you can get us a picture with him smiling?" Lila asked coming into the room, her hand resting against the door frame.

"You bet I will!" Mashiro said.

Kensei looked between the two of them before leaving the room to come into the kitchen where Yuna was putting the final spices on the food. She looked over at him before focusing on the food. Kensei came over to where she was standing, moving next to her.

"Any attacks?" he asked looking at her.

"Not since last night," Yuna said wiping her hands on a rag. He nodded, "but they're not gonna last, Kensei, we know it. Even Lila knows it. You can't keep putting your life on hold for us."

"Your my sisters. And I ain't putting my life on hold," he said.

"Kensei this is the first person from your Division we've ever met," Yuna said fixing him with her gold eyes, "you're shuttin the world out. Its not right. You have to accept who you are."

"I have," he said. She raised an eyebrow, "I will," he said. The other eyebrow went up, "I'm working on it."

"Well that's something," she said picking up the dish, "now lets go get some food in her, she looks like she'd fall over if you blew too hard."

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**So we've met Kensei's family! I can see him being the one who _thinks_ he's in charge, but having to do a lot of the manly tasks.**

**We'll explore more of the Muguruma family dynamic. And of course find out about Mashiro.**

**PLease Review! Reviews make me want to update! So its all win-win!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow! This is like "Enchantable updates long lost fics day". Because here's another! Funny story because there was actually a convention in town where I am and I saw a couple dressed up as Kensei and Mashiro and they were making otu and of course I was like "i want to go update Shukra!" So here you go!  
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Mashiro Kuna was more full than she'd been in some time.

Kensei's sisters were the best cooks she'd ever met, even better than the ones at the Division. For someone who spent most of her early life living on scraps, the food she'd gotten at the Division the first time had seemed like the best in the world. But this, this was so much better. Stuffed so full Mashiro was thinking she'd have to be rolled home, she sat on the porch at the back of the house looking out at the fields that stretched endlessly behind the small house. It was clear that Kensei's sisters--and Kensei too probably--were farmers. He'd told her that a few months ago when he'd cleaned her hands so quickly. For some reason the thought of Kensei coming in all dirty and having to wash up for dinner made her smile. She could see Yuna yelling at him with no problem.

The door behind her swung open. Mashiro turned her head to see Kensei come out onto the porch, two cups of something steaming in his hands. Wordlessly he held one out to her and she took it from his grasp, recognizing the smell of tea. The mug was thick and heavy but barely warm, even though the liquid it held was steaming hot. Mashiro looked down at the tea before looking over at the man she ahad followed. It was so _weird_ to see Kensei without his gloves or any of the authority he wielded so well back at the Division. She'd always thought he belonged in the Division, yelling at people and running it without any credit. But he'd never truly fit, like a puzzle piece that was just a bit off. But here, here he fit. He belonged out here on the farm with his sisters. Here he seemed real and truly happy. But then why the heck was he in Soul Society?

"Why'd you follow me?" he asked after a moment, somehow making the request not seem juvenile at all.

"You were being all secretive," she said looking back at the liquid, "I was curious," she turned her head towards him, "'sides, you heard me following you."

"I didn't think it was you," he said taking a drink from the tea.

"That's so mean!" she cried looking at him, "who'd you think it was?"

"Not you."

Mashiro pouted, turning back to her tea. Beside her, Kensei shifted his weight, obviously uncomfortable with the situation at hand. He was being all secretive still and Mashiro didn't know why. If she had a family like this one she'd show them off to everyone. But Kensei never talked about his sisters or the farm or any of the things he seemed to really care about. In spite of her best efforts, Mashiro felt the prickling of jealousy. She'd fought and killed and done so much by his side in their short time together and yet he'd never breathed a word about this place. Half the division thought that he and Lila were lovers! She'd been so impressed by the unity of Ninth and meanwhile one of their most important members was being all silent and secretive. It wasn't very nice or fair. Still pouting she looked up at Kensei's face, steeling herself to tell him just how mean she thought it was that he kept everyone so far away.

Then she saw his face.

Leaning against the porch he was looking at his tea like he wished that it'd swallow him whole and take him far away. He looked like he fit, he looked like he belonged and yet the expression on his face was one of torture and self-loathing, as if being here was the most painful thing he did. For someone who came here as often as she realized Kensei was coming here, that was very strange. People snuck around for things they liked, for things they enjoyed, not for things that hurt them as much as he looked like this was hurting him. Slowly she recognized the tension in his back and shoulders, the way that he looked when he had too much to do and not enough time in the world to actually do it in. Taking a sip of the tea as quietly as possible, Mashiro inched over until she was leaning next to him before hopping up on to the rail. . His eyes went to her as she balanced herself on the rail of the balcony drawing her legs up and hugging her knees to her chest.

"What's she have?" she asked quietly. Kensei said nothing, " I know Lila's sick--"

"Drop it," he said gruffly.

"Nu-huh!" she shook her head, "I grew up on the streets. I know what being sick looks like!"

"Keep your voice down," he hissed, his honey eyes glaring at her, "you're so loud."

"I'll be louder," she threatened, raising her chin defiantly even though they were at about the same height.

He let out a frustrated breath, shaking his head before he looked at her and then at the tea. For a moment she thought he wouldn't say anything except 'get the hell out' but then his mouth opened. Then it shut. Then it opened again and finally words came out of it.

"She's got some kinda spiritual sickness," he said, fingers tightening on the clay, "its got some stupid ass name, makes no difference," he continued to glare at the tea, "started with nothin big, she was the smaller of us, that's what they thought it was. But she was always cold, always sick, always hungry. And she never grew. We kept her warm and fed and everythin but she was just always--" he trailed off, "always like that," Mashiro looked at him carefully, "and then I started showin Spiritual Power."

Helplessly Mashiro bit her lip. His eyes were distant and she could hear the accent slipping into his voice as his guard came down, just a little bit. She didn't think that he told the story often and she could see it hurt him even to voice it but he pushed himself forward. Mashiro wasn't sure what _she_ had done to deserve that, to deserve the kind of trust he was showing her, but she was glad he was doing it all the same. Exhaling he shook his head, looking around the porch but never at her, like it was hard to look at someone. Like he felt guilty telling the story.

"My family's usually Spiritually aware. Yuna's got some of it, my mom and dad did too, but Lila had none and me--" he shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips, "i had more than anyone. Enough to get me into the Shinigami Academy. Now they're sayin I'm probably gonna have a Bankai too."

"Did you guys try transfers?" Mashiro asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said, "that and everything else under the sun. And sometimes it works, but it doesn't work for long."

"And she's sicker now?" she asked. Slowly he nodded, "I'm sorry," she said finally, looking at her toes.

"Not your fault," he said gruffly, taking a long drink of the tea he was holding as they lapsed into silence.

"Your house is so pretty," she said finally with a smile, "we don't have anything this big where I'm from."

"Where's that?" he asked finally looking over at her.

"Seventy Third District," she said with a grin.

Kensie looked at her curiously. Districts below the Sixtieth had a reputation for being rough and once you hit the Seventies and Eighties it was a free for all. He knew that thieving, prostitution, gambling--all of it was commonplace down there. One time he remembered his father coming home drunk and his mother being upset and loudly telling him he reeked of the Eightieth District. It was a bad place to grow up and a hard place to escape. But it made sense considering Mashiro's agility and speed, she'd have to be fast to survive down there. He also knew that many of the kids who grew up there lived in gangs to help support each other. Prostitutes, gamblers, none of them could keep their kids so children were frequently abandoned.

"You got anyone still down there?" he asked.

"Yep," Mashiro said, "they're all still down there."

"You ever visit them?" he asked.

"Not as much as you visit your family," she said with a smile.

His lips twitched as if he wanted to smile but couldn't bring himself to do it. He seemed more innocent in that moment, more carefree than she thought she'd ever seen him. Even if his hair was grey. They lapsed into silence as they remained on the porch, watching the sunset and drinking the tea. It took a while for the sky to be overtaken by darkness and stars but when it happened it was beautiful. It was never terribly cold in Soul Society and it was still warm enough outside that she didn't feel the least bit chilly when the sun finally went down. Neither she nor Kensei spoke, both seemingly content in the quiet of the evening. It was actually kind of nice, just to be sitting there still full from the most wonderful meal she was sure she'd ever eaten in her life. Kensei seemed content in the silence, or, as content as Kensei ever got. If she could have, Mashiro would've stayed sitting there with him forever.

Kensei looked over at the green haired woman sitting next to him. He'd been angry when she followed him, but the fact was that he had let her follow. Kensei had never been good at lying, especially not to himself and he knew perfectly well why he'd let the footsteps follow him until it was impossible for them not to know where he was going. The fact was that while he wasn't good at lying, he hated doing it even more. His mother and father--and then Yuna--had raised him to be honest and lying to the entire division was something he didn't like doing. Even though he knew he could've argued it wasn't really lying, it was just not telling them everything--or anything really. But not telling them the truth felt just as rotten as lying to them outright. The difference was that he was better at not telling them the truth than at lying to their faces.

He'd been screaming for someone, for anyone to figure it out. To follow him. Selfishly he'd wanted to tell them, wanted someone to share the burden he carried. He had just never thought that it would be Mashiro. He didn't know who he thought it would be, it just never occurred to him that it would be her. Now though that she was there, that she now knew a part of the burden he carried, Kensei didn't know if he should be happy or upset that his prayers had been answered. Mashiro just seemed so, well, so flippant. So carefree. Even if she did grow up in the Seventy Third District. Kensei was fairly sure that no matter how long he lived he was never going to find another woman like the green haired one sitting next to him. He'd been intent on keeping his two lives separate but he had known that any member of the division he brought home his sisters would love. If for nothing else than the fact that he brought a member of the division home.

"What are you two up to?" Yuna asked coming out onto the porch, a dishrag thrown over her shoulder, "its already dark out. Don't you have a Division to run?"

"You know about the Captain?" Mashiro asked, surprised.

"I know my dolt of a brother's more of a Captain than the one they got him taking orders from," Yuna said, her tone business like but edged with the affection of an older sibling talking about her younger, "and I'm guessing that makes you his Lieutenant."

"I guess so!" Mashiro said with a grin.

"Yuna," Kensei said, his tone making it clear this was an old conversation between the two of them.

"I just don't think its right that that man gets the credit for your hard work," she began, "if you'd just--"

Wordlessly Kensei got up and walked inside the house before she could finish her words. The door banged behind him. Mashiro looked at the door as Yuna came over and stood beside her on the porch. Judging from the pictures, Yuna wasn't that much older than her siblings but her face bore the lines of a woman who had lived with too much responsibility all her years. Mashiro didn't move from her spot, even as Yuna leaned against the rail and was silent for a moment. When she began to speak, her tone was gruff but still friendly.

"He blames himself, you know, for what's wrong with Lila. Thinks that just because he's got power and she's got none he's somehow to blame, even though anyone with two brain cells can see that it wasn't up to either of them who got the power and who didn't," she looked over at Mashiro, "you get that, don't you?"

"Uh huh," Mashiro said nodding, "i've been workin with him."

"Listen," Yuna turned towards her, "Kensei'll never tell you this--not in time anyway. Bless him but he's as stubborn as they come," she looked at her hands, "Yuna's getting worse. We know it and we're dealin with it as best we can but Kensei is--" she looked over at the house, "Kensei's not." he's seem to have it in his head that if hes here it'll keep her alive and it won't," Mashiro fought to not bite her lip as she listened, "Lila too, she doesn't want her brother to be like Kensei is now."

"The Division likes Kensei, they listen to him," Mashiro said, feeling the need to reassure her, "but they don't--they don't understand why he's so secretive."

"And why'd you follow him?" Yuna asked.

"I was in the Second Division," Mashiro said, "I like figuring out secrets."

"And how'd you wind up at the Ninth then?"

"I was too loud," she admitted looking at her toes, "not just the hair either."

"Well you must fit right in with the Ninth," Yuna said. Mashiro grinned and nodded as Yuna smiled gruffly in response, "he could be a Captain. Not just as a leader, I've seen him lead since he was a kid. I mean power wise."

"That's what everyone says," Mashiro said.

"But he refuses to train," Yuna said.

"They say that too," she admitted finally.

Yuna let out a breath of air, shaking her head almost sadly as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You know he never listened to me, even as a kid. That whole "I'm your big sister" thing never worked on him. Kensei's always been good at doing what Kensei wanted to do," she smiled affectionately and absently swiped at her pony tail, "but what Kensei wanted to do was usually what was best for the rest of us. He's a good kid, the kind of good you can't fake or be taught about," she kept her eyes ahead, "this is going to break him."

Mashiro looked at Yuna. She knew that his sister knew Kensei a lot better than she did but she couldn't imagine _anything_ breaking Kensei Muguruma. Then again, until a few hours ago she had not thought that Kensei even had a sister--much less two of them. But as she thought about it Mashiro realized that Kensei was exactly the type of guy she could see breaking down because he lost someone close to him--and it'd be so much worse because she knew he would blame himself. Even though it was no-ones fault that Lila was sick and it certainly wasn't his, Kensei'd never see it that way. And he'd never train to get his bankai until he saw that--much less train to master it. And if he didn't do that, then unless he killed Captain Midorikawa and Lieutenant Kikkawa in front of two hundred people or they both managed to die within a short span of time, then the Ninth would be under the rule forever. Mashiro shuddered a little at the thought, even though she knew now was not the time to be worrying about the Division. But she had a sinking feeling that Yuna was right. That when Lila died Kensei was going to need the Division more than ever--and they already needed him.

"We won't let that happen," Mashiro found herself saying. Yuna looked over at her, "there are other people there, like Eishima and Kasaki and even if they don't know what's wrong with Kensei they'll make sure he's okay. Even if he does keep secrets everyone in the Division really looks up to him and we're a battle division so we're all really good at taking care of each other."

"Emotionally?" Yuna asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no," Mashiro said, "but they'll get him really drunk and make him fight really hard so he'll just be too tired to do much emotional stuff."

"Well alright," Yuna said with a laugh and a shake of her head, "you two are good for each other," she said, "I can tell."

"We haven't known each other that long," Mashiro began.

"Some things you don't gotta learn," Yuna said with an offhanded smile, "some things you just know. And I know you two are good for each other," she smiled, "and i got a feeling you two are going to get into more trouble than you've got any right to--so you'd best stick together. You'll need each other to get out of it."

"Do you think we'll have adventures?" Mashiro asked enthusiastically, looking at the honey eyed woman.

"Not if you spend all your time around here you won't," Yuna said.

Immediately Mashiro hopped off the balcony and darted into the house to find the errant Kensei. She found him in the living room with Lila, both speaking quietly. Lila was holding onto a handkerchief and Mashiro could see that her features look tight, as if she was holding something back. Yuna's words came back to her and she immediately went over to where the twins were and grabbed Kensei's sleeve, tugging on it.

"We gotta go!" She said dragging him to his feet.

"Go where?" he demanded.

"Go on an adventure!" she said looking like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "and we can't do that if we're sitting around here!"

"Mashiro stop!"

"Nu-huh! I wanna go an adventure!" she said firmly placing her hands on his back and pushing him towards the door.

"Well you heard her," Lila said with a smile, "she's right, there isn't really any adventure here. And besides, its already dark out. You should be getting back to Soul Society."

"Thank you for the food!" Mashiro called over her shoulder.

"Come back any time," Lila said with a smile.

"Mashiro! Damn it! Mashiro would you calm down?!" Kensei demanded angrily as the green haired, hyperactive, surprisingly strong woman pushed him to the door, "Yuna I'll be in touch!"

"Alright you two, get home safe," Yuna said as the door closed behind them.

As soon as the door closed, Lila double over, pressing a hand to her mouth as she coughed violently. Yuna looked at her anxiously,watching as the white handkerchief she'd been holding slowly darkened with blood. When the coughing fit had passed, she lowered the cloth, taking a moment to collect herself before she looked painfully at her sister.

"I didn't--" she stopped, closing her eyes and taking in a horribly rattling breath, "I didn't want him to see."

"I know," Yuna said, running her fingers through Lila's hair, "we're gonna have to thank that Mashiro girl for getting him out of here when she did," Lila gave a tight nod, "come on," Yuna said, "lets get you to bed."

* * *

**A bit short, I know but these two were more of a "meet Kensei's family" chapter and to find out a bit about him. Don't worry Mashiro's gonna get her own few 'past' chapters. But the few OC's aren't gonna be that big in the story, but they are necessary.**

**Please review! Seriously people, I've got a bunch of stories and, for better or worse, the ones that see updates are the ones that people review. Because when I check my email and I see a review for a story, that gets me thinking about that story and its a short jump from thinking to writing. So if you want updates you gotta review!  
**

**So please review! **


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